Charles Ferster
Charles Bohris Ferster was an American behavioral psychologist. Biography Ferster was born November 1, 1922 in Freehold, NJ, the second son of Julius B. and Molly Madwin Ferster. He was married to Elyce Zenoff Ferster, a professor of law at Georgetown University, with whom he had four children. Ferster died on February 3, 1981 at the age of 58 in Washington, D.C. Timeline Education *1940 - 1943 Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) *1943 - 1946 Military Service *1946 - 1947 Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) (B.S, 1947) *1947 - 1950 Columbia University (New York, NY) (M.A., 1948; Ph.D, 1950) Post-Doctoral Professional Affiliations *1950 - 1955 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) Research Fellow under B.F. Skinner *1955 - 1957 Yerkes Laboratory (Atlanta, GA at Emory University)(Chimpanzee work) *1957 - 1962 Indiana University Medical Center (Indianapolis, IN) (work with autistic children; collaboration with Nurnberger & Brady) *1958 - First Executive Editor, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB); See Founding of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/society/history/jeab_founding.shtml *1962 - 1963 Executive Director, Institute for Behavioral Research (Silver Spring, MD) *1963 - 1965 Associate Director, Institute for Behavioral Research (Silver Spring, MD) *1965 - 1968 Senior Research Associate, Institute for Behavioral Research (Silver Spring, MD) *1967 - 1968 Professor of Psychology, Georgetown University (Washington, DC) *1969 - 1981 Professor of Psychology, American University (Washington, DC) (Department Chair, 1970-1973) Professional Life Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior Laboratory Work Application of the Theory *Linwood Project *Individualized Instruction at Georegetown, American Universities *'The University Learning Center at American University': The University Learning Center represented a radical experiment in undergraduate, interdisciplinary education in which the principles of operant behavior were directly applied. The center itself -- an open, free-flowing physical space on campus -- was conceived of as the "chamber" in which instruction and learning occurred. The environment adhered in obvious ways to such cornerstone concepts as immediate positive reinforcement, successive approximation, schedules of reinforcement, discriminative stimui and the like. Professors of Psychology, Physics, Anthropology, Psychiatry, Sociology, Philosophy, Mathematics staffed the Learning Center, as did many graduate students in these fields. Social and Professional Network Following is a partial list of professional colleagues and friends of Charles Ferster; those interested in behaviorism, operant conditioning, and human behavior more generally may be interested in these people and their work: Margaret J. Rioch, David McK. Rioch, John L. Cameron, James Dinsmoor, Douglas G. Anger, James E. Anliker, Donald S. Blough, Richard J. Herrnstein, Alfredo V. Lagmay, William H. Morse, Nathan H. Azrin, Ogden R. Lindsley, Lewis R. Gollub, Matthew L. Israel, Harlan L. Lane, George S. Reynolds, A. Charles Catania, Herbert S. Terrace, Neil J. Peterson Publications Books *''Schedules of Reinforcement'', with B.F. Skinner, 1957 ISBN 0-13-792309-0. *''An Introduction to the Science of Human Behavior'', with Nurnberger, J. I. & Brady, J. P., 1963 *''Behavior Priciples'', with Mary Carol Perott, 1968; (Second Edition 1981, with Stuart A. Culbertson) Papers *''Arbitrary and Natural Reinforcement'' 1967, The Psychological Record, 22, 1-16 *''An Experimental Analysis of Clinical Phenomena'' 1972, The Psychological Record, 22, 1-16 [citation incorrect] *''Clinical Reinforcement'' 1972, Seminars in Psychiatry, 4(2), 110-111 *''A Laboratory Model of Psychotherapy'' 1979, In P. Sjoden (Ed), Trends in Behavior Therapy. New York, Academic Press *''Psychotherapy from the standpoint of a behaviorist'', 1972, In J.D. Keehn (Ed.), Psychopathology in Animals: research and clinical implications. New York, Academic Press *''The Autistic Child'' [citation neeeded] *''Positive Reinforcement and Behavioral Deficits of Autistic Children'', Child Development 1961, 32:437-456 *''The use of the free operant in the analysis of behavior'', 1953 Psychological Bulletin, 50, 263-274. *''The Development of Performances in Autistic Children in an Automatically Controlled Environment'', Charles B. Ferster, Marian K. DeMyer, Journal of Chronic Diseases 1961 Apr; 13:312-4 * The control of eating, In J. P. Foreyt (Ed.), Behavioral treatments of obesity (pp. 309-326). Oxford: Pergamon Press. Ferster, C. B., Nurnberger, J. I. & Levitt, E. E. (1977). References *Fred S. Keller, Charles Bohris Ferster (1922-1981), An Appreciation, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 1981, 36, 299-301 *B.F. Skinner, Charles B. Ferster -- A personal memoir, Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior 1981, 35, 259-261 External Links *Article by B.F. Skinner *P.B. Dews on Behavioral Pharmacology and C.B. Ferster *The Harvard Pigeon Lab Under Herrnstein *JEAB's First Editorial Board Charles Ferster Charles Ferster Charles Ferster Charles Ferster